Expedia.com

Expedia.com

April,27,2005

Business: Expedia.com

On Sunday, April 24,2005 I went online at Expedia.com to try and change a reservation I had made. I was unable to do it online and was told I had to call their number that was posted on the site. I had looked up several different flights. I was aware that I was going to have to pay $100.00 per ticket to make the change. I was on the phone for a good hour with the agent. I told him that I wanted to fly from Albany,NY to SanFrancisco Ca on Tuesday, July 12 until Wednesday,July 20. He had asked if I was flexible with my dates and I said yes, anytime in July. My original date was leaving on June 29 and that was fine. I am a teacher in NY State and my son is in high school and we have school until June 24th, so obviously we have to fly after those dates. The agent found a good deal where I did not have to pay anything additional other than the $100.00 to change. He said that my credit card was still in their system. He said that he was going to e-mail the itinerary. It was after 11:00 and I did not check it that night.

On Monday, April 25, 2005 my son called me at work to let me know he checked the itinerary and that the wrong dates were sent. It said: JUNE 12th through JUNE 20th instead of JULY 12th through JULY 20th. Needless to say, I was a bit upset and immediately called Expedia. I had expected them to be gracious and apologize and say that an error had been made and they would correct it. I have done business with them in the past and have not had a problem, although I've never had to speak with anyone on the phone. Unfortunately, I spent over five hours on the phone on Monday trying to rectify the situation. They said that in order for me to change the ticket, I would have to pay another $200.00. I could understand having to do that if I had been the one who had made the error and had punched in the wrong dates online. But I am being punsihed for someone elses error. I asked to speak with a supervisor and she was not very nice nor understanding, but kept repeating that in order for me to change the ticket to July it would not only cost me the additional $200.00, but another $200 because there was an increase in the fare.

I called United and spoke with a reservationist who was extremely understanding and said that it was definitely Expedia's error and she saw no reason why it couldn't be changed, especially because I was calling within 24 hours. She gave me the number of their Customer Relations. I spoke with United's Customer Relations on Monday evening and the man in personnel could not believe that Expedia responded the way that they did. He told me to be more forceful and that it was human error on their part and that they should correct it. He mentioned the possibility of having a three way conversation with them.

I called Expedia back and was on the phone for another frustrating hour. At first the agent, Nigel, was understanding and said he would look into it. When he came back on, he must have repeated eight times that, "We must abide by the airline's regulations." I explained that I had spoken with United's customer relations and they told me that it was Expedia's error and that Expedia should correct it. When I called United back again the Customer Relations Department had closed for the evening.

I called United again on Tuesday morning and spoke with a different person at Customer Relations. He listened and agreed with the man I had spoken with the night before and said that it was Expedia's error and that they should not charge the additional $200.00.

He put me on hold and then came back and said that he was unable to waive the $200.00, but that he could offer me $200.00 in United Airline vouchers to be used at a later date. I thought that was very gracious of United, especially because they were not the ones who had made the error. However, it did not solve the present situation of wanting to change my tickets without paying the additional $200.00. I am willing to pay the difference in the fare if there is one, but truly believe that I should not be penalized for someone else's error. Thank-you for your attention to this matter and I look forward to any replies.

Sincerely,

Irene

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